Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Supreme Court likely to side with Monsanto in patent fight, AP saysOral arguments in front of the Supreme Court make it appear likely that the court will side with Monsanto (MON) in its fight with a farmer that allegedly violated the company's patents on genetically modified soybean seeds, according to Associated Press. Reference Link

Monsanto April volatility elevated into Q2 and outlook Monsanto April weekly call option implied volatility is at 43, April is at 23, July is at 18; compared to its 26-week average of 18 according to Track Data, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q2 results on April 1.

Record soy plantings seen weighing on prices, WSJ saysAnalysts expect soybean acreage to rise 3% from last year to 85.9M acres and corn to fall 2% to 88.7M acres, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal taken ahead of a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast due Tuesday. Many are betting that further soy production increases will trigger steep declines in futures, the report noted. Publicly traded companies in the agriculture and fertilizers space include Agrium (AGU), Andersons (ANDE), Archer Daniels (ADM), Bunge (BG), CF Industries (CF), Compass Minerals (CMP), DuPont (DD), Intrepid Potash (IPI), Monsanto (MON), Mosaic (MOS), Potash (POT) and Syngenta (SYT). Reference Link

Monsanto addresses assessment on glyphosate by IARCMonsanto Company further addressed last week’s assessment on glyphosate by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. “We are outraged with this assessment,” said Dr. Robb Fraley, Monsanto’s Chief Technology Officer. “This conclusion is inconsistent with the decades of ongoing comprehensive safety reviews by the leading regulatory authorities around the world that have concluded that all labeled uses of glyphosate are safe for human health. This result was reached by selective ‘cherry picking’ of data and is a clear example of agenda-driven bias.” The repeated safety assessments by regulatory authorities over the last three decades have formed the foundation for the long history of safe, highly effective use of this important agricultural tool in more than 160 countries around the world. Decisions regarding product safety and approvals for pesticides are governed by regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission, as well as independent scientific advisory bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority. IARC has no regulatory authority and its decision does not impact glyphosate’s label, current registration or use. “Safety is the top priority for every person who works at Monsanto. Glyphosate-based herbicides on the market meet the rigorous standards set by the regulatory and health authorities who work every day to protect human health, and we want our customers and consumers to be assured of these evaluations,” Fraley added. In contrast to the comprehensive review that regulators around the world have completed over three decades, IARC issued its classification based on a limited data review after hours of discussion at a one-week meeting. Further, IARC is one of four programs within the WHO that have reviewed the safety of glyphosate and their classification is inconsistent with the assessments of the other programs. Two of the WHO programs – the Core Assessment Group and the International Programme on Chemical Safety – both concluded glyphosate is not carcinogenic. The WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality program concluded glyphosate does not represent a hazard to human health.

WHO says herbicide marketed by Monsanto likely carcinogenic, WSJ says A World Health Organization agency said Friday that Glyphosate, a herbicide marketed by Monsanto under the Roundup brand and other companies, has the potential to cause cancer in humans, says the Wall Street Journal. Monsanto contested the findings saying that glyphosate is safe if used as recommended by its label and that decades of extensive study have proven its safety, added the Wall Street Journal. Reference Link